1. Which bank acquired the Indian consumer banking businesses of Citibank?
[A] HDFC Bank
[B] Axis Bank
[C] ICICI Bank
[D] Yes Bank
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Axis Bank]
Notes:Indian private sector lender Axis Bank has acquired the Indian consumer banking businesses of US bank Citigroup.
The sale includes businesses of credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans for Rs 12,325 crore, as part of plans to exit its retail operations in 13 markets. The sale excludes Citi’s institutional client businesses in India.
2. As per the data from the Reserve Bank of India, which bank recorded the highest value of frauds in April-December 2021?
[A] State Bank of India
[B] Punjab National Bank
[C] Bank of India
[D] Bank of Maharashtra
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Punjab National Bank]
Notes:
According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, a total of 27 scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions have reported 96 cases of fraud, involving a total amount of Rs 34,097 crore during April-December 2021.
While Punjab National Bank recorded the highest value of frauds worth Rs 4,820 crore, Bank of India recorded the highest number of frauds at 13.
3. ‘Ambedkar Young Entrepreneur (AYE)-Mentor program’ is a new scheme of which Union Ministry?
[A] Ministry of Finance
[B] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
[C] Ministry of Women and Child Development
[D] Ministry of Education
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment]
Notes:
The venture capital fund (VCF) scheme was implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to help aspiring entrepreneurs belonging to SCs and OBCs new businesses. As the performance of the scheme is not satisfactory, the Ministry is set to launch a “mentorship” programme.
Named the ‘Ambedkar Young Entrepreneur-Mentor’ (AYE-Mentor) programme, the IFCI Venture, which is the VCF manager, will empanel businessmen or heads of companies or veterans of banking and financial institutions, as ‘mentors’.
4. India has opened up its central government procurement market to which country, recently?
[A] Japan
[B] Singapore
[C] UAE
[D] The Netherlands
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [UAE]
Notes:
India has opened up its central government procurement market to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), under the recently-signed free trade agreement (FTA).
This step will give national treatment status to UAE companies, on a par with Indian companies, while bidding for central government tenders.
5. After the addition of Democratic Republic of Congo, how many countries are part of the East African Community (EAC)?
[A] Five
[B] Seven
[C] Ten
[D] Fifteen
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Seven]
Notes:
The Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC is set to be admitted as the seventh member of the East African Community (EAC).
In the Extraordinary Heads of State Summit, DR Congo will be formally received in a virtual session. The DRC will gain access to the two main ports in the region-Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, also gaining trade, political and security cooperation. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are the other members.
6. As per data from the Finance Ministry, what is the estimated amount to be borrowed by India in the first half of 2022-23?
[A] Rs 1.45 trillion
[B] Rs 4.45 trillion
[C] Rs 8.45 trillion
[D] Rs 12.45 trillion
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Rs 8.45 trillion]
Notes:
The Finance Ministry announced that the Union government is looking to raise Rs 8.45 lakh crore through borrowings in the first half of 2022-23.
The borrowing is set to be made to fund the revenue gap for reviving the economy. Out of the market borrowing of Rs 14.31 lakh crore estimated for the next financial year, Rs 8.45 lakh crore is planned to be borrowed in the first half or April-September period.
7. India recently signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) with which country?
[A] Japan
[B] Germany
[C] Australia
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Australia]
Notes:
India and Australia signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA). It seeks to provide -duty access to 96 per cent of India’s exports to Australia.
The exports include engineering goods, gems and jewellery, textiles, apparel and leather. The pact is expected to boost bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 45-50 billion over five years and generate over one million jobs in India.
8. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system crossed which milestone in terms of volume?
[A] 10 crore
[B] 50 crore
[C] 100 crore
[D] 500 crore
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [500 crore]
Notes:
As per the data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) crossed the 500-crore mark in terms of volume.
In March this year, UPI was close to touching the ₹10-lakh crore milestone in value terms in March this year. There were around 315 banks live on the UPI platform by March this year.
9. Which Indian state launched ‘She Auto’ stands, to provide safe transport to women and girl students?
[A] Kerala
[B] Andhra Pradesh
[C] New Delhi
[D] Odisha
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Andhra Pradesh]
Notes:
The Police Department in Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh has set up ‘She Auto’ stands, the first of its kind in the state.
It aims to provide safe transportation to women and girl students. Tirupati is the first city in the state to set up special auto stands for women.
10. Which Indian space tech start-up launched its first commercial satellite with SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket?
[A] Pixxel
[B] Agnikul
[C] Skyroot Aerospace
[D] Dhruva Space
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Pixxel]
Notes:
Indian space tech start-up Pixxel successfully launched its first fully-fledged commercial satellite apparently called ‘Shakuntala’ or Pixxel TD-2.
The satellite was launched with Elon Musk-run SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-4 mission from Cape Canaveral in the United States. The satellite hosts one of the highest resolution hyper-spectral commercial cameras.